Very good video, however it fails to mention the many times the bible has been translated before it made it to modern English. The bible is essentially like a very long, very old game of telephone.
Len, you are misinformed, it has been translated from the original Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. Most of the sources are very well documented and ancient. We have more manuscripts of the Bible than any ancient document (the Iliad, the Aeneid) and any differences in the the manuscripts are cross-referenced to reproduce a very accurate text.
The Bible was written 3 centuries after the death of the star of the show. Pieced together from a vast array of manuscripts. What a shame that the material was hand-picked by men (not god), with many works being cast to the ground, excluded (based on motives and agendas of men).
I think Kirby nailed it. In actuality the Bible is a mash-up of stories written 2000 yrs+ ago. Depicts life back then. I would think a supernatural and all knowing god would have mentioned DNA, space flight, and specifics of modern days. Alas, the book only talks about goats and sacrifice, 2000 yr old stuff.
If god is perfect, then why does the Bible demand we worship god? A perfect being would not have ego therefore only wish good upon us and not want to take credit, let alone wanting us to continuously obsess over him?
Why WOULD it mention DNA or space flight? The Bible is not an almanac, and is not intended to be. You might as well ask why it doesn’t mention absolutely everything in existence. But that would be clearly absurd.
Your equation of worship with ego is a non-sequitur. If God exists and is truly the being the Bible depicts Him as, then worshipping Him is simply the correct, rational response to that. Calling this “ego” is to anthropomophise God.
Pure presentism. It is all about definitions. As our understanding evolves, who is to say who and who is not a Christian? Great video. I could not agree more. Now I have to purchase the book.
As a christian, it is important to not to change the interpretation, and to rebuke those who do. Thanks for showing that in our christian metalanguage.
I don’t think punishing people for not thinking the same way you do is a very Christian thing to do. The whole point of the video was that people have been enslaved by the narrow interpretations of their own belief systems and that interpretation is always up for interpretation.
I agree. It is a fact that meanings change (diachronic linguistics). The Bible is super-rich in metaphors that at a time meant something and now something else– interpreted along with the sign of the times. I am more interested in the original meanings. They are amazing
Why I appreciate what this video was trying to say, I am a bit perturbed that the robust field of biblical hermeneutics wasn’t mentioned at all – a field that works, rather accurately, on determining the actual meaning of words and the text.
None of the various translations that range drastically from text-inspired versions (NKJV, NIV) to a word for word versions (NASB) or interlinears were mentioned either.
Naturally this subject could be the source of many documentaries, and this video was three minutes. But it feels a little under-handed to just chalk it up to most things being a allegorical.
Very nice video. I like the Marcus Borg citation. It reminded me if listening to him in class when he would talk about words like “faith”, and how its meaning changed.
Another beautifully edited video Kirby. The rapture is a concept that is not very well supported in the text of the Bible, it’s a very much a distinctly subjective idea derived from ideas found outside the Scriptures .
I think it would be fair to say the argument presented in the subtext of the video is that salvation is now and that the supernatural stories are cherished stories that conveys spiritual truth rather than convey actual events.
I’d have to disagree with that. “Salvation” (outside of the verses you quoted) is the concept of being alive to God, not dead. “Working” for salvation is in stark contrast to the message of Romans.
In regards to the supernatural, although it may seem bizarre, outside of your experience, there are a large amount of people, even within the West, who have had experience with it and practice things outside natural laws. Look up biographies of more recent historical figures like John G Lake or perhaps Aimee Semple Mcpherson, both American.
In regards to the Earth being 6000 years old, there is actually nothing in the Bible about the age of the Earth. It was a medieval scholar who first claimed that one could determine the age of the Earth by calculating from the ages of Adam and his descendants. In fact, one of the books of the Old Testament expressly forbids using the genealogies to determine the age of the Earth.
Just saw you speak today about Everything is a Remix, Kirby. Very interesting stuff. I’d be interested to consider how the points that you’ve illustrated in ‘The Language of Christianity’ might support the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis (i.e. did the meaning of these words change to support changing ideologies, or did changes in the meaning of these words cause changes in ideologies?). Any insight from you source material?
Please note that “Rapture” is a protestant concept. It does not exist with the catholics.
And every one does not agree on what is the Apocalypse. Is it past, present or future ? Does it tell the end of the world or just the beginning of something new without destruction ?
Funny how he says the word rapture is made up and is not in the Bible. That’s true as far as it goes, because “rapture” is derived from the Latin word “raptus”. The Bible was written in Greek. The Greek word for “raptus” is “harpazo”. It is in the very passage he quoted in his video segment. Rapture means: To be caught up. All orthodox Christians have to deal with rapture. The question is what does it mean and when does it happen? That is up for debate. But to say that “rapture” is made up is just nonsense.
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Very interesting (and important) video. Kudos!
Awesome. Is there a higher-res version available anywhere?
Very good video, however it fails to mention the many times the bible has been translated before it made it to modern English. The bible is essentially like a very long, very old game of telephone.
Len, you are misinformed, it has been translated from the original Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. Most of the sources are very well documented and ancient. We have more manuscripts of the Bible than any ancient document (the Iliad, the Aeneid) and any differences in the the manuscripts are cross-referenced to reproduce a very accurate text.
The question is…what did the authors mean when they wrote this?
The Bible was written 3 centuries after the death of the star of the show. Pieced together from a vast array of manuscripts. What a shame that the material was hand-picked by men (not god), with many works being cast to the ground, excluded (based on motives and agendas of men).
I think Kirby nailed it. In actuality the Bible is a mash-up of stories written 2000 yrs+ ago. Depicts life back then. I would think a supernatural and all knowing god would have mentioned DNA, space flight, and specifics of modern days. Alas, the book only talks about goats and sacrifice, 2000 yr old stuff.
If god is perfect, then why does the Bible demand we worship god? A perfect being would not have ego therefore only wish good upon us and not want to take credit, let alone wanting us to continuously obsess over him?
Why WOULD it mention DNA or space flight? The Bible is not an almanac, and is not intended to be. You might as well ask why it doesn’t mention absolutely everything in existence. But that would be clearly absurd.
Your equation of worship with ego is a non-sequitur. If God exists and is truly the being the Bible depicts Him as, then worshipping Him is simply the correct, rational response to that. Calling this “ego” is to anthropomophise God.
Pure presentism. It is all about definitions. As our understanding evolves, who is to say who and who is not a Christian? Great video. I could not agree more. Now I have to purchase the book.
The video requires some random plugin called Adobe Flash? Is it 2005 or something?
As a christian, it is important to not to change the interpretation, and to rebuke those who do. Thanks for showing that in our christian metalanguage.
I don’t think punishing people for not thinking the same way you do is a very Christian thing to do. The whole point of the video was that people have been enslaved by the narrow interpretations of their own belief systems and that interpretation is always up for interpretation.
great work, keep it up !
Truly thought-provoking – I feel inspired to read more about it. Thank you!
I agree. It is a fact that meanings change (diachronic linguistics). The Bible is super-rich in metaphors that at a time meant something and now something else– interpreted along with the sign of the times. I am more interested in the original meanings. They are amazing
Why I appreciate what this video was trying to say, I am a bit perturbed that the robust field of biblical hermeneutics wasn’t mentioned at all – a field that works, rather accurately, on determining the actual meaning of words and the text.
None of the various translations that range drastically from text-inspired versions (NKJV, NIV) to a word for word versions (NASB) or interlinears were mentioned either.
Naturally this subject could be the source of many documentaries, and this video was three minutes. But it feels a little under-handed to just chalk it up to most things being a allegorical.
Thanks for suffering through the diatribe.
Sorry for the rank grammar flubs, my apologies.
Very nice video. I like the Marcus Borg citation. It reminded me if listening to him in class when he would talk about words like “faith”, and how its meaning changed.
Great stuff. They need to put that on the air.
I wish you great success. You deserve it.
I’m glad I got to hear your voice. (Not to be weird, just… up-front.)
Great video, I going to play it in our bible study
Another beautifully edited video Kirby. The rapture is a concept that is not very well supported in the text of the Bible, it’s a very much a distinctly subjective idea derived from ideas found outside the Scriptures .
I think it would be fair to say the argument presented in the subtext of the video is that salvation is now and that the supernatural stories are cherished stories that conveys spiritual truth rather than convey actual events.
I’d have to disagree with that. “Salvation” (outside of the verses you quoted) is the concept of being alive to God, not dead. “Working” for salvation is in stark contrast to the message of Romans.
In regards to the supernatural, although it may seem bizarre, outside of your experience, there are a large amount of people, even within the West, who have had experience with it and practice things outside natural laws. Look up biographies of more recent historical figures like John G Lake or perhaps Aimee Semple Mcpherson, both American.
In regards to the Earth being 6000 years old, there is actually nothing in the Bible about the age of the Earth. It was a medieval scholar who first claimed that one could determine the age of the Earth by calculating from the ages of Adam and his descendants. In fact, one of the books of the Old Testament expressly forbids using the genealogies to determine the age of the Earth.
Just saw you speak today about Everything is a Remix, Kirby. Very interesting stuff. I’d be interested to consider how the points that you’ve illustrated in ‘The Language of Christianity’ might support the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis (i.e. did the meaning of these words change to support changing ideologies, or did changes in the meaning of these words cause changes in ideologies?). Any insight from you source material?
Thanks!
Please note that “Rapture” is a protestant concept. It does not exist with the catholics.
And every one does not agree on what is the Apocalypse. Is it past, present or future ? Does it tell the end of the world or just the beginning of something new without destruction ?
Funny how he says the word rapture is made up and is not in the Bible. That’s true as far as it goes, because “rapture” is derived from the Latin word “raptus”. The Bible was written in Greek. The Greek word for “raptus” is “harpazo”. It is in the very passage he quoted in his video segment. Rapture means: To be caught up. All orthodox Christians have to deal with rapture. The question is what does it mean and when does it happen? That is up for debate. But to say that “rapture” is made up is just nonsense.
At first I was a bit hesitant to look at this, but Im a lover when It comes to find the origins of a words.
In such a way, I kind of understand about believing, because the Bible kind of does teach about God’s love and understanding.
god is fiction